Writing Words for Nerds #AtoZChallenge--E is for Editing

This blog post is about the most important part of writing, the part that takes a mediocre first draft and turns it into something great. This blog post is about editing.

In Why My Love Life Sucks, Gilbert Garfinkle mentions his simple three-part method for fixing anything: take it apart, figure it out, and fix it. Easy, right? Editing works the same way: you take your story apart, you figure out what parts are working and what parts can be made better, and you fix it.

It’s as simple as that.

For many writers, though, there’s one major obstacle that gets in the way of completing these three simple steps, and it’s another word that starts with the letter E: ego.

I don’t mean that these writers are egotistical and think their first draft is perfect just the way it is (although sometimes that’s the case). I’m referring to the psychological ego, as in a person’s sense of self.

Sometimes the writer is the main thing standing in the way of a story being all that it can be. And it can happen in every stage of editing a story.

Here, let me break it down.

 First, you can’t fix something without taking it apart.

Many newbie writers, however, are reluctant to truly do that to their story. Sure, it can be because they think their story is already perfect, but more often than not, it’s because of insecurity. It’s not so much because they think their story is perfect; it’s more that they’re worried that it isn’t.

They’ve read books that they’ve loved, and they want to be able to write like J.K. Rowling, Rick Riordan, Neil Gaiman, or whichever writer they admire most. The thing they don’t realize is that great books aren’t created by writers who produce perfect first drafts; they’re created by writers who produce imperfect first drafts and aren’t afraid to take them apart and edit them like crazy.  

If that’s not enough to get you over your insecurity, the best advice I can give you is something someone told Tina Fey when she was starting out in improv (and I’m paraphrasing here): don’t worry that it’s going to suck, because it is definitely going to suck. You just have to let go of the idea that that’s a bad thing. It’s not. You have to create something that totally sucks first. Otherwise, you’ll have nothing to fix.

This isn’t just true about you. It’s true about me. It’s true about any writer who’s ever written anything worth reading. From the start, we all have to give our stories permission to totally suck.

So let go of your insecurities, and don’t be afraid to take your story apart. Once you do that, you can move onto the next part of figuring it out.

 Unfortunately, a writer can also get in his own way here, and many writers do. There’s that darn ego again! It’s because many writers have a hard time looking at their stories with objective eyes, and a writer can’t really figure something out if that writer doesn’t even see it for what it is.

Many writers see their story as their baby. Well, I’m sorry, but it’s not. And the sooner a writer accepts that, the sooner that writer can actually figure out what works in the story and what doesn’t. This means the writer needs to check his ego at the door. Again, I mean ego as in a sense of self. A writer needs to understand that this isn’t about him; it’s about the story and only the story.  Okay, maybe it’s about the reader, too, but it most definitely isn’t about the writer.  

If a writer has a hard time separating himself from his story and seeing it objectively (as possible as that is when it comes to something as subjective as what works and doesn’t), there are a few things he can do. He can join a critique group to get different points of view. He can try to find beta readers. He can hire a professional editor. At the very least, he can put his manuscript away for a month so that when he comes back to it, he’s more likely to see it with fresh eyes. But whatever he does, he has to understand that any criticism isn’t about him; it’s about the story, and making the story better.

Finally, we get to the fixing stage.

Now you might think there’s no way the ego could mess this stage up. Unfortunately, you’d be wrong. Because very strangely that insecurity that came with the first stage can often come back at this stage—and sometimes it’s even worse.

This is where a writer can spend an entire day taking one word out and then putting it back in. This is where a writer can suddenly decide after spending a year or more editing and editing and editing a book that it isn’t really the book they want to write. I’ve actually seen talented writers throw out brilliantly written and edited books that were almost done, because something—or possibly someone—told them their books weren’t good enough.

The only solution I have to this is to let it go.

Send your story out to the world. If it really isn’t good enough, a lot of people will probably let you know. But chances are it will be perfect in some reader’s eyes, and then all that work you put in will be worth it. And who knows? Maybe that reader will decide to write a book, too. And then your book will make her feel insecure, because she’ll have no idea how hard you had to work to make your story shine.

E is for editing, and when it comes to writing, editing is everything. 

Want to get it perfect? Why that's the worst thing you can do.

I've been teaching my home-schooled daughter a course on creating graphic novels. The course is partly about writing and partly about illustrating. Both are connected. They're both ways to tell a story. The story you want to tell is up to you.


My daughter has come up with a great idea for a story, and she's very excited about it. That's wonderful. She wants to be a writer someday, and this course will teach her a lot about that. I'm teaching her a lot about that. I've been an editorial cartoonist, and I used to edit a comics magazine. Each issue of Iton HaComics (The Comics Paper), which was a Hebrew comic book comprised mostly of American comic strips, included an article I had written on a comics related topic. I also have a teacher's certificate, and am an experienced writer, editor, and illustrator, so I think I'm a pretty good teacher when it comes to this topic.


We've been using You Can Do a Graphic Novel by Barbara Slater as our "textbook." Slater shows you don't have to be a great artist to create a great comic book. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning how to write and draw a graphic novel. It might be just a start, but it's a very good start.

There are some things the book doesn't get into, though, things like overcoming perfectionism. You might think perfectionism is a good thing--wouldn't it be great if we could all get it perfect the first time?--but perfectionism leads to fear, and as Yoda says,  “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” 

First you want to get it perfect. Then you're afraid that--surprise, surprise--you can't get it perfect. You can't. No one can, especially not the first time. It's impossible. Then you get angry with yourself and with your work because you can't do the impossible. Then you hate your work, so you give up on it. And then you and your work suffer. And that does lead to the Dark Side, because you're depriving the world of the gift you could have given it, and if you go around feeling miserable all the time, you'll make the world around you miserable as well.  

You suffer because you've given up on something before you've barely started. Creating a comic book--or a graphic novel, or a short story, or even a blog post--isn't about getting it perfect. No one cares if your character's eyes look gorgeous. No one. So stop obsessing over those eyelashes, and just get the story written and the pages laid out. You can edit later, but only if you actually write the darn thing. You can change the drawings around over and over, but it will be a lot easier to do if you didn't waste ten minutes drawing eyes you might have to edit out later. 

Look at Barbara Slater's artwork. It isn't gorgeous. But it's THERE. She's done it. She created something. So has Scott Addams, the creator of Dilbert; Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts; Cathy Guisewite, the creator of Cathy; and many other comic strip artists who don't draw particularly well. Maybe one day you'll be a great illustrator or a great writer. Let me tell you a little secret. Even then you will not get it perfect. It's an impossible dream.

So forget about trying to get it perfect. Let go of your fear. Instead, embrace joy. Because the truth is that writing and illustrating are a pleasure. They're fun. They're all about dreaming on paper. As far as I'm concerned, they're the most fun you can have. So have a ball.